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Pisco for the whole world
Milagros Vera Colens
Hans Hilburg, the peruvian bartender, who from the city of Cusco offers the best of Peru’s signature alcohol to hundreds of foreigners, gives us the formula that he uses to develop his most ambitious project: his bar “El Pisquerito.” What does Pisco mean to you?
To me, Pisco is a complete identity. It is a drink that allows me to directly identify with my country, not only in bartending, but in my life and my work. I love and respect Pisco because it has given me the opportunity to create innovative and magical bartending which reflects this magical drink.
How did you come up with the idea of opening a bar in Cusco?
I was always thinking about doing it, mostly because of the enchantment and the magic that Cusco holds. And I’m not just referring to Cusco’s history, countryside and customs, but also the diversity of languages and races that you can find in the city. Also, Cusco is the Peru´s door to the rest of the world, and to have the opportunity to offer our national drink is something that definitively gave me the desire to open a bar here.
Do you think that you have changed what bars in Cusco offer to their clients?
Possibly. I don’t want to commit the sin of being too cocky, but I can assure you that El Pisquerito is a different place, mainly because we are defined as a place where you can drink Pisco, and good Pisco at that. Here we don’t serve any other drink, not even beer. We only serve pisco, wines and macerados (something that has been soaked in Pisco). People come here to enjoy pleasant moments, not partying, but rather to enjoy fine drinks, with what I call Piscos Boutique, and where no one is going to make you have a bad time with shameful attitudes.
Is that the difference between your bar and the other bars in the area?
I believe that we make ourselves different by offering cocktails as a concept of the bar. We don’t play around with the pre-made mixes or frozen products, but rather we work with distinct and natural ingredients from Cusco. It is in this way that “el carajo” was born, made from a base of saúco, “la Valicha,” made from tree tomatoes (native to Peru), and “la chola picarona” which includes “airampo, just to name a few of the choices we have on our menu.
You are about to complete spending a year here, could you describe what has happened this first year?
I am very happy because not only have I brought, with a purely Peruvian spirit, a different concept to what bars call pisco, but I feel that I am contributing to the spirit and pride that we have toward our drink, which is growing in the Cusqueños and in the Peruvians that live here.
What inspired you to make these recipes?
The theme of recipes, at times, becomes very complicated. You can start with the name and then afterwards think of the ingredients, or vice versa. When you create recipes with pisco, the theme of Peru and passion for what is ours is fundamental. If you don’t understand the drink, don’t even try to invent something, because we can’t create things “just because.” The essence of pisco can’t disappear in a cocktail. For example, a piña colada with strawberries and pisco hides the flavor of the pisco behind the other ingredients and it should be clear that pisco should always be the king and the rest of the ingredients should only be there to help increase the aroma, the body and the characteristic flavor of pisco.
The names are also a demonstration of originality and Peruvian feeling.
In this form of bartending the names have to take us by the hand to that with which we identify ourselves, a lo criollo, al barrio, to the expressions of our daily life, to our playful and malicious slang, and in general, to all which makes us feel Peruvian. To me, the creation of drinks with pisco with names in English doesn’t make any sense.
What other projects do you have in mind for our national drink?
Once a month we meet with a group of pisco loves because we are working with entities related to tourism and we are looking to achieve a certification that can be given to different places that serve quality pisco, with a demonstration of their origin. Unfortunately in Cusco there are many places that work with drinks that are sold in bulk, without any type of guarantee, which damage the image of our national drink as well as the health of the local and foreign consumers, but more than anything, which discredit Peru.
Get to know more…
Hans Hilburg has dedicated 30 years of his life to bartending. He has worked in the United States, Spain, Mexico, Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia, Chile and the Caribbean, but he has now returned to Peru to stay.
El Pisquerito, a bar that serves pisco, wine and appetizers, is located at 344 Calle Santa Teresa in Cusco.
Add a comment :
1 comments
FY says :
20-08-09,08:15:01
Congratulations Hans!!!
You are a great man and a great and truly peruvian.
Thank you,
__________________________
Bartender
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